As originally posted on the Blandin on Broadband blog…

Two of the three communities that participated in our Community Broadband Planning Charrette at the October 2018 Broadband Conference formed public-private partnerships that received significant state broadband grant awards announced last week.  That is a pretty good result just over one year.  Both Koochiching (w/Paul Bunyan) and Le Sueur (w/BevComm) Counties were at the very early stages of organizing their broadband efforts and their community teams spent two days with quality broadband consultants (great thanks to Cooperative Network Services and Finley Engineering, respectively) studying maps, analyzing survey results and discussing financing scenarios.  At the end of the conference, both teams understood what was possible and what local efforts would be necessary for a successful partnership.  With both Paul Bunyan and BevComm representatives at the conference, discussions commenced!

Our Blandin team has been discussing ways that we can help those who are either just beginning their broadband development efforts or those that still struggle to attract the state or federal funding necessary to implement a successful project.  We have some ideas.  If the broadband is deficient in your community or county and you think that there would be a team ready to work to solve this problem, please contact me to discuss your situation.  You can reach me at 651-491-2551 or [email protected].  You can also complete a short online form at the Community Broadband Resources Program description at www.broadband.blandinfoundation.org and we will contact you.